Fun At The Beach
by truearthurfan
Summary: Dora, May & Boots are having fun at the beach. May doesn't like the idea at 1st. her memories of herself as Ben when at a beach, back the real world make her uncomfortable.  Can May still enjoy the beach, when her life in the real world had bad memories?


Chapter Eight

Fun At The Beach

'I don't think so,' I said, holding the pink one-piece swimsuit with yellow flowers and a frill in front of me, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Today, Dora's parents were taking Dora, me and Boots to the beach.

We were trying to find something I'd like to wear at the beach.

In truth, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go or not.

Back in the real world, I hadn't been to the beach, I mean been to the beach and enjoyed myself in over 8 years.

I just lost my joy of being at the beach.

This was for multiple reasons.

The main reason was that I'd always hated it when the sand stuck to my body. In particular, my hands.

I couldn't rubbed my eyes while at the beach because, if I did, I'd get sand in my eyes.

I also hated how I'd always end up drinking a little saltwater when I went swimming in the sea.

The reason I told myself I didn't like the beach was because, back when I was 4, I'd almost drowned because I'd gone out too deep.

But I always found holes in the logic of that reason.

I'd enjoyed myself at the beach a lot of times after that experience, so it wasn't nearly drowning that had made me stop enjoying myself at the beach.

I guess the real reason why I didn't like going to the beach was a mystery to me.

'So, what about this one?' Dora said, holding up a pink kid's bikini.

I took it from her and held it against me, looking into the mirror.

'Hmm,' I said, thinking. 'I like it.'

'Good,' Dora said smiling. 'Then I'll wear this one.'

She held up a purple kid's bikini with a small green frill on the underwear.

I smiled.

Despite being only 5, Dora seemed pretty mature and fashion conscious for her age.

'Girls,' Mrs Melina called to us from outside. 'It's time to go.'

'Coming,' we called, putting our bikinis into Backpack and Pack, slinging them over our shoulders and hurrying out.

Dora's parents and Boots were waiting for us in the car.

It wasn't too fancy a car.

It was a simple, small, purple 5 seater car.

We'd all just fit.

We got into the car, Mr. Melina turned the key and we drove off towards the beach.

I was sitting on the left side.

As the car drove down the road I looked out the window at the passing trees.

Suddenly I saw something standing in the trees.

I blinked and it was gone.

I frowned.

Was I starting to see things?

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

'_Probably just the lack of sleep,_' I thought, opening my eyes and looking up at the sky through the window.

The last 7 nights I'd been having those dreams.

I kept waking up because of them, thus, I kept losing sleep.

But I was used to losing sleep.

Back in the real world, it would normally take me between at least 1-2 hours, then waking up at around 4am in the morning.

And, considering that I'd usually go to bed after 10:30pm, that didn't leave much time for sleep, did it?

But I'd always coped pretty well.

Half an hour later we were at the beach.

We got the car and unpacked everything.

The umbrellas, the mats, the picnic basket, etc.

Dora and I changed into our kid bikinis in the girls' toilets.

We walked out and went down to meet Dora's parents on the beach.

'_Well,_' I thought, lifting my bare right foot. '_My first bare-footed step on a beach in over 8 years._'

I put my foot down; bracing myself for the unpleasant feeling I always go when I touched sand back in the real world.

It didn't come.

The sand didn't feel the same as it did back in the real world.

It felt... nice.

I smiled.

Here was another of the good things about being in a cartoon world.

I smiled at Dora.

'Race ya,' I said grinning, running down towards the water.

'Hey, no fair,' Dora called, laughing, hurrying after me. 'You got a head start.'

We ran down into the water and started splashing each other.

The water didn't even taste salty.

It was pleasant.

'Cannon ball!' Boots cried, dropping into the water, sending a wave of water splashing over Dora and me.

We all laughed, having the time of our lives.

I hadn't had this much fun in years.

If I was going to be trapped in another world, at least it was this one, where I could have lots of fun.

'_Whoa! Hold the phone there, boy,_' I thought, shaking my head. '_**Never**__ think like that. Never! You're going to get home and everything will return to normal._'

'Normal,' I said quietly. 'But, compared to this, that life wasn't really fun. I'd lost my real fun.'

It was true.

Once you're an adult, a lot of fun leaves the world.

At least here, fun was still around.

'Heads up, May!' Dora called.

'Huh?' I said, not paying attention, and getting a face-full of water.

Dora and Boots laughed.

I laughed too.

I'd needed that, more than they'd ever realize.

We played in the water for a couple more minutes.

Then Dora's mum called us over for lunch.

We came out of the water, dripping with water. No surprise there, huh?

We hurried over and dried ourselves off.

Once the 3 of us were dry we had lunch.

Now, back in the real world, when my family and I had gone on picnics, I'd been very picky about what I'd eat in comparison to the rest of my family.

I wouldn't eat salad. I wouldn't touch coleslaw. I wouldn't even try lettuce.

When I'd been 5 myself, I'd tried eating a leaf.

The way it had had felt in my mouth had almost made my throw up.

Since then, I'd done my best to avoid trying any leafy kind of food.

But in this world, it didn't have that bad feeling.

For some unknown reason, a lot of the foods I wouldn't like, back in the real world, I liked in this world.

I didn't really understand it, but I wasn't really complaining either.

It meant I could eat almost anything.

That meant, I was never rude about food.

But I sill couldn't eat brussel sprouts.

What sane person _could _willingly eat them?

Dora and Boots certainly couldn't.

They'd tried.

They'd almost spewed when they put them in their mouths.

Anyway, lunch was a couple of salads, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a carton of apple juice each.

I happily ate lunch, sipping the juice through a small straw.

This was nice.

If it wasn't for my family back in the real world, I'd stay here with Dora's family forever.

'_Stop thinking like that,_' I thought, angry with myself. '_That's not the way it is. You're a 19-year-old boy from the real world, with a family and you're going to get back there. Stope thinking like this is permanent._'

After lunch, Dora, Boots and I went exploring the beach.

As we walked along the trees, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

'Hey, what's that?' Boots said, pointing to the water.

There was something greenish floating a little out in it.

'Let's go, check it out,' I said, running towards the water.

Had my common sense kicked in, I would have remembered that you're not supposed to go back into the water for at least an hour after eating.

But that wasn't what I had to worry about.

As Dora and I reached the water, the greenish thing rose into the air.

It was followed by a long green neck.

It was a giant sea snake.

I'd never seen such a huge snack.

It was at least ten feet tall.

It looked down at us with two yellow eyes, licking its lips.

'We are so dead,' I said, staring up at the sea snake.

'No we're not,' Dora said smiling.

I stared at her in bewilderment.

How could she think that we weren't going to die, right here?

That snake was _huge_ and I had no idea how to stop an ordanairy sea snake. Let alone a ten foot sea snake.

'Sea snakes are scared of pirates,' Dora said, looking at me.

'And how is that supposed to help us?' I asked, looking at her.

Okay, so sea snakes were scared of pirates. Good to know. But how was that going to help us? I couldn't see any pirates nearby.

'All we have to do is say "arg", like a pirate,' Dora said, looking from me back tot he gaint sea snake.

'_Say "arg"?_' I thought, not sure whether I believed her or not. '_Okay. But if this doesn't work I'm going to feel really stupid during the last moment of my life._'

Dora and I both faced the sea snake.

'Arg!' we both shouted at it.

I blinked, staring at us.

'_Whoa,_' I thought, seeing its reaction. '_Maybe Dora was right. Still, this is kinda embarrassing._'

'Say it again,' Dora said, looking at me. 'Louder.'

'Arg!' we both shouted again, facing the sea snake.

It flinched, looking a little fearful.

'Faster!' Dora said smiling.

'Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg!' we shouted quickly.

The sea snake swam away as fast as it could.

'What a wuss,' I said, folding my arms, grinning. 'We don't even _look_ like pirates and it was still scared of us.'

'I told you,' Dora said smiling. 'Now, we'd better get out of the water.'

'Yeah,' I said, my common sense starting to flow through my brain at last. 'Before we get major cramps.'

We hurried out of the water and went back to where Dora's parents had set everything up.

They weren't there.

At first, I wondered where they could be. Then I got my answer and shook my had in embarrassment.

They were playing around in the water, acting like kids.

Yes, okay. I'm a 19 or 20-year-old boy who was doing the exact same thing, but there was a difference.

I was in a 5-year-old girl's body.

If I didn't act like a kid, it'd look suspicious.

'Let's make sand castles,' Boots suggested, taking the 3 buckets out of the toys bag, handing one to Dora and another to me.

Now, I'd never been one for making sand castles.

Mainly because, seeing all those magnificent sand castles on TV always made me feel like I wasn't any good at it.

But, I was now in a TV show _world_.

If I couldn't make a good sand castle here, I couldn't make one anywhere.

So, we took our buckets and spades and starting making sand castles.

It turned out to be a lot of fun.

It just showed how long it had been since I'd been able to enjoy something like this.


End file.
